Christopher Kende

Christopher B. Kende focuses his practice on international insurance, reinsurance, aviation and marine matters. Christopher has more than 30 years of experience in handling major complex multinational litigation in the areas of insurance, reinsurance, environmental law, aviation and admiralty and maritime disputes.

His experience includes virtually every aspect of pre-trial, trial and post-trial proceedings in state and federal courts around the country. Christopher is a former member of the Foreign and Comparative Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association and is past president of the Maritime Law Committee of the New York County Lawyers Association and the Admiralty and Maritime Law Commission of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA).

Christopher is also past president of the Insurance Law Commission of the UIA and serves on the International Organizations, Conventions and Standards Committee of the Maritime Law Association of the United States.

He is on the board of directors of the New York Chapter of the French American Chamber of Commerce. Christopher has a combined B.A. and M.A. degree from Brown University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. He is fluent in French.

EXPERIENCE :

• Successfully represented the French government in the AMOCO CADIZ oil spill litigation which involved the largest shoreline pollution in history.
• Acted for several major carriers in asbestos and hazardous waste site coverage cases.
• Acted for native regional and village corporations in Prince William Sound in the EXXON VALDEZ oil spill actions in state and federal court in Alaska.
• Provided reinsurance advice to the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, a federal agency, in connection with several major transactions involving political risk insurance, including assistance in the structuring of a worldwide facility offering political risk, currency conversion and expropriation cover based in Bermuda.

EDUCATION :

• New York University School of Law, J.D., 1973
• Brown University, B.A., 1970
• Brown University, M.A., 1970

BAR ADMISSIONS : California; District of Columbia; Massachusetts; New York

COURT ADMISSIONS :

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court — Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York
• U.S. Supreme Court

AFFILIATIONS :

• American Bar Association
• Association of the Bar of the City of New York
• Maritime Law Association of the United States
• New York County Lawyers Association
• Union Internationale des Avocats
• Board of Directors of the French American Chamber of Commerce